A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Using Card Abroad…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing customers don’t truly need or want
add charges, costs or restrictions to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Using Card Abroad
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the additional step. But that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Using Card Abroad